The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is celebrating 60 years

Prince Philip was the guest of honour as the charity that bears his title celebrated its 60th anniversary recently.

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award was founded by his royal highness in 1956 and has gone on to become the world’s most recognised youth achievement award.

The diamond anniversary celebrations began last week, with Philip, the patron of the DofE, at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.

There he met a number of Gold Award awardees, who made up just some of the 10,281 awards achieved in Scotland in 2015/16, and spent time speaking with them as well as staff from the charity.

Barry Fisher, director for The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award in Scotland, was delighted to welcome the royal guest.

He said: “As we celebrate 60 years of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, it’s clear that the charity is an integral part of life all across Scotland.

“This year we’ve had over 20,000 young people start their DofE journey with us and it’s fantastic to see all our volunteers, delivery partners and participants recognised for their outstanding work. It is with enormous thanks to these that we’re able to deliver DofE to as many individuals as possible and to ensure they make the most of this wonderful opportunity.

“For many young people being able to push yourself past boundaries and overcome challenges is an essential part of personal development – inspiring confidence, skills and knowledge. That’s what The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is all about.”

To further mark its 60th year the DofE has launched a one-off initiative allowing people of all ages to take on a challenge and earn a limited-edition DofE Diamond Challenge pin.

Those interested are asked to sign up online, select a challenge that means something to them and then raise £60 for the charity in the process of completing it.